Improve Photography Conference 2017, Phoenix Arizona

What I Learned
* It’s very humbling to present alongside some of your photography idols.

* Staying in a mansion on a mountain with the other speakers makes you bond quickly!

* There are cactus that actually ‘jump’ on you and stick so hard pliers are required to remove the spines (Jumping Cholla Cactus!).

* Never lose a participant in the desert mountains Yes, I did this … she was eventually found.

* I know nothing about flashes and fashion photography.

* While having a wine next to Nick Page who was editing his day’s photos, I can confirm he uses black magic and voodoo to edit. Go here to be blown away http://www.nickpagephotography.com/

* You do not go to a photography conference to relax … expect to be running and gunning all day/night.

* You can learn a lot from other photographers regardless of level.

* Hanging out with 200+ photographers for a week is really cool.

* People were genuinely interested in Eco-Photography and Intimate Landscapes.

* Some photographers have groupies.

* There is such a thing as Comp Stomping. I learned this as 40 of my closest friends quickly crowded around me during a desert shoot when I thought I had successfully snuck off the beaten path and set up to get the ‘shot’.

* I need to learn luminosity masking.

* I need to pay it forward and help as many as possible become better photographers.

* I don’t think American’s have real coffee. It’s more like flavoured water and drinkable potpourri. I missed Aussi coffee!